Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy is mistaken. There are two types of operations, which might involve Irish troops going abroad. There are traditional UN-led operations, where the UN organises the mission and approaches its members to supply troops. However, there are also UN-authorised operations, where other bodies such as the EU, NATO or the Organisation of African States put the team together, having been authorised by the Security Council or the General Assembly. The issue is whether the operation is led by or authorised by the UN. Currently, our commitment abroad under traditional UN "Blue Hat" operations, the most significant of which is in Liberia, comprises 466 troops while under UN-authorised operations, 268 troops are deployed abroad. Another 36 members of the Defence Forces have volunteered to work on various military missions with my sanction and the consent of the Minister for Finance. The primary deployment relates to UN-led or UN-authorised operations, in other words, an operation constituted by the UN from among its constituent members or an operation put together by another group such as NATO or the EU at the request of the UN.

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